Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles

Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles

“Immortalized in Concrete” is about the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The courtyard of the magnificent Grauman's Chinese Theater is completely covered with concrete slabs with prints of hands, feet, and, in exceptional cases, paws of celebrities. Unlike the Avenue of Stars , the local “get-together” is not at all massive - the history of cinema is long, and less than two hundred figures from the magical world of cinema have received the honor of “inheriting”.

A Little History

The history of the Walk of Fame began in 1926, as often happens with all brilliant ideas, by accident. During the construction of the Chinese Theater, preparatory work was carried out in its future courtyard, in particular, cement was mixed. Silent film actress Norma Tolmadge, rushing to rehearsal, stepped on the raw material and left her mark. Sid Grauman picked up the idea - and a year later, footprints of stars began to appear in the courtyard of the Chinese Theater. At the same time, the Walk of Fame was the most “undemocratic” evidence of election: the lucky winners were determined exclusively by the owners of the theater.

Until recently, celebrities left their fingerprints directly on the surface of the Walk of Fame poured with fresh concrete, for which they had to lie down on a red carpet specially laid out for the occasion. Nowadays, the stars are invited to “stick” to the surface of the concrete form - after a while the material will harden and the slab will be placed in its proper place.

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What to See

The Walk of Fame is that rare case when, when viewing a landmark, you only need to look at your feet. For almost a century, the most prominent filmmakers “signed” in front of the façade of the Chinese Theater. On the first slabs, the stars also signed wishes to Sid Grauman; later the tradition changed, and modern slabs bear handprints and shoe prints of celebrities and their autographs.

When planning a visit to Grauman's Chinese Theater, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with the location of the slabs on the Walk of Fame in advance - it's easy to get lost in names and imprints at the site.

Among the most popular are slabs of Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe, Johnny Depp and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Pacino, Michael Jackson (with the imprint of his diamond glove and boots), Frank Sinatra, etc. And the last to be noted in the courtyard were Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda and Jackie Chan. Four-legged actors were also not forgotten - on the Walk of Fame there are paw prints of everyone's favorite Commissioner Rex - the shepherd dog Rin-Tin-Tin. Among other things, the contours of popular cinematic objects were imprinted in the concrete: Harold Lloyd's glasses, Harry Potter's wand, the full-length legs of 50s beauty Betty Grable and Bob Hope's nose.

Ceremonies for Laying Slabs

The Walk of Fame is replenished with prints quite rarely - no more than 2-3 times a year. Accordingly, the ceremony of laying the next slab turns into a significant event, which is not easy to get to, but it is possible. In addition to the fact that you need to “stake out” a place for yourself in the already limited space for the public as early as possible, it comes down to banal luck: the main action takes place at sidewalk level, and you simply may not see the idol behind the back of some tall spectator in front of you . Information about the ceremony is posted long before the event on the Grauman's Chinese Theater website.

Address: Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles